Taking the Lead

Not for me

While some solution providers extol the virtues of their vendors' lead generation and lead referral programs, others have seen little or no success.

Poor or nonexistent referral programs are no reward for years of vendor loyalty, said Extremely Productive's Ovett. And this harms both the vendor and the channel, since solution provider executives often are technically astute but have little or no marketing acumen, Ovett said.

"I've invested time, money, energy and years in building my knowledge of the vendors' products. They're not funding me," said Ovett. "Technical people are very good at products and not very good at selling. Auto manufacturers help finance the dealership. They help floor-plan the business. They're making sure a dealer survives. They want to promote the dealership. They're not going to open up a competing dealer across the street."

Too many vendors sign on too many channel partners, Ovett said. "They should be more selective about who they work with and help support them," he said. "Vendors need to concentrate on helping their channel's sales business. In the CRM world, with all my vendors I currently deal with, it's a free-for-all. Sage has done a better job with some things. I've used their co-op funds to jump-start [sales and marketing efforts]. They have other programs I can take advantage of."

But despite Extremely Productive's 10-year history with Sage, the solution provider does not give high marks to the developer's lead referral offering. "Most vendors are trying to build brands," said Ovett. "Unless you're driving people to your people's territories, what good is it?"

Tools of the trade "HP has a very intuitive, Web-based lead management system that allows partners to manage all aspects of the leads from initial contact to closure," said LaRocca. "A training Webinar is available for those who need it."

Access to information about other partners also is crucial, IBM's Wong said. Last year, the business debuted "speed dating," in which it brought together executives from various partner organizations. Individuals chatted for 8 minutes, then moved on to the next table.

"We had ones where we had 80 partners at a single event. The energy is amazing," said Wong. "You wouldn't believe the number of business partnerships that get formed that way."

Using a more mundane approach, IBM also developed the PartnerWorld Industry Network for Advanced and Premier members, a list accessible to internal IBM personnel, solution providers and ISVs. In fact, Lake­view Technologies tapped the network to introduce its solutions around the world, said Wong.

"We've helped this company go global," Wong said. "They create the campaign once. We help them."

At Sage, when the vendor started using its own CRM solution to track, rate and forward leads to partners, the improvement was almost instantaneous, said Forepoint's Cumley. Sage sends e-mails to partners with sales leads, which a partner can accept or reject.

"I would say 90 percent of the time we accept the lead," Cumley said. "As we're moving the opportunity through our sales process, we go into our portal and update Sage."

"Over the last 18 months, [the proc­ess has] improved significantly. They track a lot more information," Cumley said. "They have eight categories they rate the lead on. In the past, every lead got treated the same."

Now, if respondents have answered honestly, Forepoint is better equipped to determine the amount and type of resource. For example, if the prospect is a senior-level person, a similar-level Forepoint executive may make the initial contact. "It's really helped us better allocate resources," said Cumley.

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Inner strength

Of course, solution providers wish for qualified sales leads, with purchase orders in hand. That scenario is unlikely, however. Far more likely is a VAR's ability to create its own leads by using the co-op dollars, marketing development funds and other services that most channel-oriented vendors now provide.

Many solution providers have created their own marketing initiatives. Some host monthly or quarterly Web­inars to keep themselves in front of customers and to attract new prospects. Others partner with vendors on mini trade shows or luncheons, golf tournaments, or charity events.

Setting up a trade show that features an IBM executive can speak volumes to a solution provider's prospective clients, said Lakeview's Vesely. A joint sales call or Webinar sends a strong signal about the two parties' relationship and trust in each other, he said.

And while not pleased with its vendor partners' lead referral programs, Extremely Productive regularly taps co-op dollars to fund its creative marketing campaigns, said Ovett.

Helping hands

When information about potential sales comes into a vendor, be it via phone, fax or Web site, it obviously is beneficial to all parties for that data to get relayed to the most suitable partner. Yet kicking-the-tires leads can waste a solution provider's valuable and limited resources.

"From my perspective, the track record with vendors generating leads has been spotty," said Transitional Data's Bohnert. "Perhaps it's more an art than a science."

The computer industry is, not surprisingly, hoping to add more science to the lead-relay mix.

Vendors are trying to perform a balancing act of getting enough information to partners in a timely fashion without inundating the channel with a slew of useless and time-wasting dead-end requests.

Developers also continue to enhance the tools they and their partners use to track, rate and manage leads to most wisely invest their resources.

It makes sense for solution providers to investigate a vendor's lead generation and lead referral offerings, say channel experts. And it makes even more sense for partners to tap vendors' other lead-related services, integrate these offerings into their internal marketing and sales initiatives, and use this powerful combination to boost their business, experts say.